This is why I'm devastated

[appgrad95&97]

When I look at the FBS teams/programs in North Carolina and the four border states; how many are we definitively better than? P5/G5, it's a short list.

[Yosef84]

Define "clearly better." I'm sorry, but if that's your measure for success (being "clearly better" than a list that includes numerous ACC/SEC programs), that's a completely unrealistic measure. We are absolutely the best G5 team in the area, so the list of teams where we are "clearly better" would include: ECU, Old Dominion, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State). MTSU and Memphis are decent teams and they would give us good games, but I think App would be favored. Looking at the P5 teams, App proved Saturday that we are an even match for Wake (which has been the opinion of any reasonable person since the beginning of the season). There is no school in NC that would be favored by more than a touchdown. Targeting SC, Georgia, Tennessee or Virginia Tech is not a reasonable goal at this point, but we could stand toe to toe with any other team on a regular basis.

We are all disappointed in the loss, especially given how it transpired, but being "devastated" over a close loss in a game that was basically a "pick 'em" just seems unrealistic. Hope you get over this in time to enjoy the rest of the season.

GO APPS!

[AppfaninCAALand]

App is the best G5 team on the east coast north of Orlando. Why so devastated?

[appgrad95&97]

App is the best G5 team on the east coast north of Orlando. Why so devastated?

Better than Navy?

[AppSt94]

I'm sorry, devastated? I mean this is football so given the state of emergencies and natural disasters occurring around the world, being devastated over a football team seems a bit out of whack.

But to answer your question, to include the ACC/SEC teams is unfair as we will never be better than any of them on a consistent basis. Too much money and or resources available to them to think otherwise. We are four years into our FBS existence. At this point in the game, we are light years ahead of where we probably should be. We still aren't filling out an 85 man roster with FBS talent, but we are still winning. We are recruiting the right kids, and coaching them to their potential. While I think that we can hold our own with most teams throughout the G5, there are still some teams that would probably be favored against us wether the game is at their house or neutral site. No need to make such dramatic claims after a one point loss.

[AppSt94]

App is the best G5 team on the east coast north of Orlando. Why so devastated?

Bold statement.

[bigdaddyg]

Thanks for this thread. Words like devastating in regards to sports events are nice to hear because it helps remind some of us crazy fans (yeah I was yelling at my TV a bit after the block) that it's just a game. The sun came up Sunday and we will play again soon. We played a great game and hopefully this rivalry can become renewed as it is cool. We have a really good squad and a 10-2 record is very much a possibility. Not many schools have a shot at a season like that.

[Rick83]

Yeah, I agree. We're in our 4th FBS season already (3rd non-NCAA transition) and so far all we've done is win 2 bowl games (out of 2 years of FBS bowl eligibility...but they could've been bigger name bowls) and a conference championship and favored to win again this year...let's see we took SEC powerhouse Tennesse, a team that went 9-4 last season, to OT and we took a GOOD Wake Forest team (not the same team from the 90s), down to the wire and they had a monster of a wide receiver that blocked our game-winning field goal in front of 35K+ (would've been 40K+ if we had the seats) screaming fans at The Rock. Wake's team last year beat the AAC (some consider the 6th strongest conference in the land) champion, Temple, in the Military Bowl...Wake's probably going to go bowling again this year even though they play in a tough, tough division of the ACC. So, let's see we should've beaten ACC powerhouse Miami last year, even though they ended up winning 9 games (almost 12), and I guess we should've beaten Clemson in 2015, what an embarrasment that was...I mean they couldn't even beat Alabama in the National Championship game. Yeah, I'm pretty devastated too about the state of our football program. The only thing we have to be embarrased about is that one fan that spat on a Wake player...that's not who we are. This program is going places but it doesn't happen over-night.

[appgrad95&97]

I was wrong. I apologize. We're fine AND headed in the right direction. Nothing to see here. And because of that we'll draw over 180,000 over our new ten home games. (Because it's all sunshine and lollipops in Boone, I won't read any, uhmmm, explanations about attendance, because we're fine.)

[Rick83]

I was wrong. I apologize. We're fine AND headed in the right direction. Nothing to see here. And because of that we'll draw over 180,000 over our new ten home games. (Because it's all sunshine and lollipops in Boone, I won't read any, uhmmm, explanations about attendance, because we're fine.)

You're entitled to your opinion, mine is different, and I apologize for my sarcastic response. I just think that we're witnessing one of if not, the best, FCS transitions to FBS ever...and why not just enjoy it and celebrate it. We're not going to win every game we play and it's not bad to lose to a good team, it's gonna happen. Losing games like this to Wake, and a close loss to Tennessee last year will just make it that much sweeter when we start pulling off P5 victories regularly and we move into a stronger conference alignment. Also, I believe the attendance issues are related more to the fact that we're playing a lot of teams that nobody knows or cares about plus the opposing teams don't bring fans from like, TX or LA, but that's changing with the scheduling magic that Gillen and company are doing...let's keep the faith and stay the course. Although I was frustrated with some of the bone-head moments our guys had in the game, I was nothing but proud of the way they competed against what is probably a bowl-bound, really good ACC team.

[Yosef10]

I was wrong. I apologize. We're fine AND headed in the right direction. Nothing to see here. And because of that we'll draw over 180,000 over our new ten home games. (Because it's all sunshine and lollipops in Boone, I won't read any, uhmmm, explanations about attendance, because we're fine.)

I mean, you are wrong. And now seem to be moving goal posts a bit? We're the best G5 team of any state that borders us, and we don't even have a roster that has been recruited exclusively for FBS yet. If you're looking for App State to be consistently better than ACC and SEC teams then boy you are in for a remaining lifetime of "devastation".

Wake has a very good team this year and are trending upward as a program as a whole. Saturday's game is still hurting me as well but let's try to not enter the land of delusion as our counterparts down in Greenville have. Only leads to unrealistic expectations followed by great dysfunction. We are at a great place as a program.

[appgrad95&97]

I'm not moving the goalposts at all. In 1997, 2007, and 2017, I thought if we ever got Wake at home, we'd win. The Wake team I saw in Boone is good, but they weren't better than we are. With the exception of Clemson and UGA, there is not a "great" in the surrounding states. Give me that list of FBS schools in those states we're definitively better than. Percentage wise I think it's lower than it was years ago.

[AppfaninCAALand]

App is the best G5 team on the east coast north of Orlando. Why so devastated?

Better than Navy?

Thought about saying between Annapolis and Orlando, but decided I'd be a bit more bold. USF, UCF, Navy, and Toledo are the only ones in the Eastern time zone that are arguely better, and not sure about the last three.

[AppSt94]

We have only played four of them since we became FBS and we are 0-4. So not better than those. if we were to play UNC, Duke, NC State, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, UVA, Va. Tech, Ga Tech along with the four that we have played 10 times each; how many times would you expect to win? How about UNNC, ECU, ODU, Liberty, MTSU,Memphis? I put us winning greater than 50% with three of those opponents, 50/50 with three, and less than 50% against the other 12.

[AppSt94]

App is the best G5 team on the east coast north of Orlando. Why so devastated?

Better than Navy?

Thought about saying between Annapolis and Orlando, but decided I'd be a bit more bold. USF, UCF, Navy, and Toledo are the only ones in the Eastern time zone that are arguely better, and not sure about the last three.

USF isn't as good as I thought they would be. They score a ton of points but looked very undisciplined against a bad Temple team. Flowers, their QB is fantastic but flushers in the face of adversity.

[Rick83]

App is the best G5 team on the east coast north of Orlando. Why so devastated?

Better than Navy?

Thought about saying between Annapolis and Orlando, but decided I'd be a bit more bold. USF, UCF, Navy, and Toledo are the only ones in the Eastern time zone that are arguely better, and not sure about the last three.

Ummmm...didn't we beat Toledo last year?!?

[Yosef10]

I'm not moving the goalposts at all. In 1997, 2007, and 2017, I thought if we ever got Wake at home, we'd win. The Wake team I saw in Boone is good, but they weren't better than we are. With the exception of Clemson and UGA, there is not a "great" in the surrounding states. Give me that list of FBS schools in those states we're definitively better than. Percentage wise I think it's lower than it was years ago.

OK - Clemson, UGA, App state. One of those is not like the rest. Some of you folks are getting too big for your britches. I specifically said *G5*, not FBS. Why on Earth would you think you can lump a SBC program with not even 3 years of full FBS football played with 2 heavyweights. Again, you're in for a lifetime of devastation/disappointment if that's who you're trying to compare us to at this point in time. Give us a few full FBS quality recruiting cycles please before going down that road.

As for your list, I'll say we're definitively better than:

SC:
CCU (only one in the state)

GA:
GSU, GA SOU (only two in the state)

TN:
Middle Tennessee St. I'll give Memphis some credit and give them the leg up as of now.

VA:
ODU, and yes I think we're better than Liberty.

NC:
ECU, UNCC


If you want to throw in the ACC/SEC programs then be my guest, but in a sane world a Sun Belt program not even halfway through it's third year of FBS eligibility shouldn't be compared to those heavy hitters. Apples and Oranges. While Saturday's loss is extremely disappointing, we are doing juuuust fine.

[AppSt94]

App is the best G5 team on the east coast north of Orlando. Why so devastated?

Better than Navy?

Thought about saying between Annapolis and Orlando, but decided I'd be a bit more bold. USF, UCF, Navy, and Toledo are the only ones in the Eastern time zone that are arguely better, and not sure about the last three.

Ummmm...didn't we beat Toledo last year?!?

Western Michigan?

[Rick83]

App is the best G5 team on the east coast north of Orlando. Why so devastated?

Better than Navy?

Thought about saying between Annapolis and Orlando, but decided I'd be a bit more bold. USF, UCF, Navy, and Toledo are the only ones in the Eastern time zone that are arguely better, and not sure about the last three.

Ummmm...didn't we beat Toledo last year?!?

Western Michigan?

I wouldn't classify Western Michigan as an "East Coast" team, but they are in the Eastern time zone and they're probably better...but we'd give them a competitive game.

[appgrad95&97]

I'm not moving the goalposts. North of Orlando. South of Annalpolis. East coast, West of Deep gap. Boarder state. Eastern time zone. Whatever. This board is full of the "why don't we get more respect, nationally?" or "why don't we get more votes in the polls?". The answer is we can't beat Wake at home. We're not in the top half in our own state or the top third in the states that border us.